Docurated recently released an infographic to highlight the state of sales productivity. The research is taken from a survey of 127 sales and marketing executives; this report examines the state of sales productivity from both the sales rep and sales management perspectives. Its findings paint a disconnect between what management sees and does and what sales reps want. Management is focused on hiring, onboarding, and analytics, but reps are struggling to find and use the basic systems and processes needed to do their jobs.

Key findings from the study:

1. Sales productivity is a top driver for hitting new revenue targets
2. Organizations are investing more and more in sales productivity
3. Sales productivity is often marketing’s responsibility, however marketing does not
prioritize sales productivity projects
4. Measuring productivity can be more expensive than realized productivity gains
5. Most organizations define productivity as just efficiency and are missing the gains
that effectiveness can bring Continue reading Salespeople Only Spent One-Third of Their Time Selling [Infographic]

Think that Instagram is just a trendy stage for selfies and lunch shots? Think again. With 300 million monthly active users, 70 million daily photograph uploads and 8500 likes per second, Instagram also serves as a powerful sales platform.

Instagram users are greedy for eye-catching images. According to a 2015 Iconosquare study, Instagram users are also shoppers, with 70% reporting that they look up brands on the platform. Put two and two together and voilà – you have a visual ecommerce Mecca.

A business Instagram account will allow you to sell without selling. It will build your brand, grow your customer base, increase interest in your products and supercharge your sales – all without having to pitch. Your pictures themselves are effortless pitches, compelling consumers to automatically absorb your marketing messages.

It’s simple: if you want to turn passive shoppers into confident customers and accelerate your sales without actually pitching, Instagram is key. Here’s 7 simple steps you can take to get the ball rolling. (Guest Post)

Lord Sieff, former boss of Marks and Spencer (major British multinational retailer) once said that the 3 most important factors for success in retail business are: “Location, Location, Location!”. Actually if you choose the location wrong, it can have a serious and often fatal effect on your new business. Studies have shown that 85% of the retailer’s success depends on the location of the facility and that the remaining 15% depends on other business factors. Adequate location provides a large flow of potential consumers that will certainly have a positive effect on your business. When choosing the right location you should research thoroughly, evaluate every possibility and then make a choice. (Guest post)Continue reading Rocket Your Sales by Making Your Retail Space Exceptional

A sales manager’s job can be a challenge. One of the largest challenges you face is keeping your sales team motivated and producing results. Fortunately, some of the best ways to accomplish this don’t require you to spend a fortune or send your sales force to another training session. Anything you can do to help them stay organised, motivated, and spending as much time on the phone or in the field as possible will help improve your results.

Successful business is built among sacrifices and willingness to go beyond limits. To run a small business is one of the toughest challenges anyone can undertake. Every now and then, sacrifices are needed to survive building your business.

Below are some of the sacrifices you can possibly make and need to overcome when starting out entrepreneurship. (Guest Post)

Statistically, people work more hours than doing anything else. Gone are the days with 8 hours sleeping, 8 hours fun and 8 hours working… You are working at least 10 hours per day. Some work even 14. So is there a way to work faster and smarter, and get more time for yourself? Actually, there are several ways, you just need to learn how to become more efficient.

Below are some pointers on how to work faster and smarter. (Guest post)

Hi!
You’re probably already familiar with our Salesforce Sync feature – ‘Zero Data Entry’.
We’ve just released a new video to promote our ‘ONDiGO For Salesforce’ feature.
What do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Either on comments below, or on email, as usual.

Excellent time management skills are crucial in practically every professional context. Knowing how to prioritize tasks and having a firm control over your schedule, you’ll find yourself becoming incredibly productive and will get more things done in a shorter time frame. Unfortunately, reality rarely looks so perfect – we tend to waste our time on blogs and social media, or devote a lot of time to activities that grant us disproportionally meek results.